Nothing's Giving up the Ghost

This is a market that wants to come down. It is worried about its own shadow. If oil goes down, it's because demand is weak. Retail sales are competitive? The consumer's weak. Fed doesn't taper? The job market's weak. Dollar goes down? The nation's weak.

But the market clings. It doesn't give up the ghost. It's annoying to bulls and bears alike.

To which I say, terrific. The market goes up hard and then retreats softly. It's four steps forward and two steps back. Ultimately, we are due for another scare. We know that one of the pillar momentum stocks, Best Buy (BBY), is getting clocked and one of the foremost industrials, Cummins (CMI), is giving it up hard. These are bellwethers that we look to for direction and today the direction is down.

But we know that at a certain point these stocks catch bids and hold in after a couple of days, but they have to have a few days of weakness before the bottom. They just don't give up the ghost. It seems that nothing gives up the ghost anymore. And I think it stays that way until the end of the year.